When it comes to the great American dream of owning a home, some people are thinking smaller is better. The tiny house movement, which favors simple living in small spaces, has swept across the country over the last decade with new and aspiring homeowners slamming the doors on those giant McMansions in favor of structures that would fit in a McMansion’s generous walk-in closet.
According to several architectural and building websites, a “tiny house” is one that’s generally smaller than 500 square feet.
But is this for everyone?
For those wanting to try out small space living without the commitment, Lon Cameron has the solution. For the last two years Cameron, 34, has offered up his own 200-square-foot tiny house located 100 feet from the Class A Crooked River in Waterford though online vacation rental site Airbnb.
“I started renting it out in February 2014, and it immediately became a big hit,” Cameron said. “People really wanted something that was not a traditional bed and breakfast experience, [and] they wanted to pay a bit less to do more.”
Cameron rents his tiny house for $100 per night and is very upfront on what people can expect.
For instance, there is no running water — unless his guests run and get it. In fact, bringing in drinking water is one of Cameron’s three hard and fast rules, which also include bringing their own sleeping bags or linens and leaving the house as clean — or cleaner — than when they arrived.
The “plumbing” is a composting toilet in a separate small shed.
The tiny house itself is a 10-by-14-foot building that includes an 8-by-10 loft with a bed. There is also a “vintage 1970s” sleeper sofa on the ground floor.
“Technically, four people can sleep there,” Cameron said. “But it takes the right four people.”
To date, more than 400 people have stayed in Cameron’s tiny house and his reviews on Airbnb have been very positive.
“I have this instruction sheet I leave for people and handouts about the house itself,” he said. “I really want to make it a user-friendly experience so it does not deter people who may not necessarily be accustomed to that secluded of an area or such a primitive system.”
The instructions cover everything from how to build a fire in the small woodstove to where the best hiking trails may be found.
“I make myself available at all times,” Cameron said. “So if anyone has a question — no matter how stupid they think it is — I want them to ask me.”
Cameron bought the Crooked River property in 2009 after spending several years as an undergraduate student “hopping from one long-term house-sitting gig to another and constantly doing projects for other people.”
Tired of having no place to call his own, Cameron said he knew buying his own property would allow him his own creative investment.
“It was an impulsive decision,” he said. “But it’s one I will never regret.”
He readily admits he knew nothing about building any sort of home when he started, but thanks to a three-day tiny home building workshop in Vermont, library books and multiple how-to videos on YouTube, he was able to figure it out.
He also said his dream of building his own home was one he downsized.
“I wanted a cedar log home and something really nice, like 1,200 square feet,” he said. “But when I started looking at cost and a mortgage of $800 or $900 a month, I knew I did not want to be that tied down.”
After reading up on tiny houses and visiting friends in Orono who lived in a mobile tiny house, Cameron decided that was the way to go.
“I learned the tools to use and the math to figure it out, and from that knowledge I was able to plunge in and figure out how to build the house,” he said. “It took a year’s worth of weekends. I don’t know if I will ever do it again.”
Cameron said the work would have gone faster if he had power tools instead of using hammers and nails.
“It certainly did give me some perspective on how efficient a job can be if you have the right tools,” he said with a laugh.
Cameron is finishing up his last year in the University of New England’s physician’s assistant program. While he enjoys visiting his tiny house, he is not ready to take the plunge into going tiny full time.
“I did live in it for six weeks,” he said, after a family health emergency required he be in the area. “It was amazing. Living there was really built-in therapy that I needed to navigate the issues I was dealing with.”
Which is really the tiny rental’s biggest attraction, he said.
“People like that I am selling an experience. We are all so busy these days that we can’t get out of our own way,” Cameron said. “It’s become a skill to sit with yourself and be at peace and just think.”
Stacy Smith of New Jersey is one of the 400 who has stayed at the tiny house and said the experience was well worth it.
“I was spending a week in Maine traveling by myself and did think twice about staying there because I was on my own,” she said. “But I am so glad I did. It is such a magical place. I totally plan to go back.”
A fan of the tiny house movement and faithful viewer of various television shows devoted to the subject, Smith said she also decided to stay at Cameron’s rental for the downsized experience.
“I really wanted to see what that was like,” she said. “Yeah, I could totally do it.”
In the winter the experience includes skiing or snowshoeing about a mile into the tiny house.
“People love it,” Cameron said. “I leave a shovel and cargo sled for them, and they love the idea of going into the middle of nowhere and heating up this cozy little home.”
Cameron keeps the rental stocked with dry goods, dishes, pots and pans, toilet paper and firewood.
There must be something to the whole tiny house experience because Cameron said this is shaping up to be his third and busiest summer with only two open weekends left.
“It’s inspiring for people to feel like they can try out a tiny house and that it might not be out of the realm of possibility for them to live in one,” he said. “There is really something to be said for people who want to do that.”
